CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio — When hundreds gather to watch one of Northeast Ohio's favorite New Year's traditions, the Chagrin Falls popcorn ball drop, it will look a little different this year.
It will once again ring in the New Year.
The 6-foot, 240-pound popcorn ball wears a sash reading "Miss Sally" in memory of Sally Florkiewicz, who died in May at age 81. Florkiewicz is credited with coming up with the idea for the popcorn ball drop.
"She was always popping ideas - [like] 15 a day," Dewey Forward, owner of the Chagrin Falls Popcorn Shop, said. "This was just one of those ideas, but this one took hold."
One of the historic town’s oldest buildings, built in 1875, has been home to the Chagrin Falls Popcorn Shop for about 75 years.
What started as a prank has become a beloved annual tradition that draws hundreds of people downtown.
This year's tribute is a perfect fit, according to Florkiewicz's family.
"She's smiling now, I guarantee it," her son TJ Florkiewicz said. "She'll have a great sight tonight because she'll be [looking from] above."
"Everybody here – all of us miss her so much," Coleen Florkiewicz, Sally's daughter-in-law, said. "When we saw it, I started crying. The boys will have that memory, my father in law – it meant everything."
A bit of a double meaning for some who see the sash on the giant ball of popcorn.
"I didn't realize this until we had that ball up, but we do 'Miss Sally,'" he said.
In addition to the ball dropping at midnight, the New Year’s Eve celebration features refreshments at the Town Hall, live music, a DJ and hundreds of regular-sized edible popcorn balls tossed into the crowd.
Festivities start at 10:30 p.m. at the Township Hall. The party will move to the triangle at 11 p.m. in preparation for the ball drop.
